The invention relates to a paint mixing machine comprising at least a body, a plurality of containers fixed with respect to the body and containing a pigment paste to be dosed into a paint pot, for each container, dosing equipment fixed with respect to the body for dosing paste contained in each container into the paint pot via nozzles of the dosing equipment, and means for using the dosing equipment.
Various mixing machines exist wherein the arrangement of pumps of dosing equipment controlling valves of containers and the dosing equipment affects the structure of the machine.
Machines are known that are provided with containers rotating on the circumference thereof and piston pumps connected to one another, wherein one paste at a time is selected to be dosed. An actuator driving the dosing equipment is a fixed, stationary mechanism which grips both a piston rod in the pump and a valve. These arrangements are known as manual versions and as various automatic machines.
Machines also exist wherein pumps and containers are fixedly stationary, in which case for each paste a gear pump or a membrane pump is provided and in which case the drive of a given pump may be arranged e.g. by a solenoid.
A manually operated mixing machine from the 1970's is also known wherein a pot is moved manually along an extensive bar until beneath a dosing pump wherefrom a paste is dosed into a pot one at a time.
Furthermore, an automatic machine exists wherein dosing takes place from fixed pumps mounted in a curved arrangement into a pot with an aperture such that one paste at a time enters the pot. A rotatable pot tray fixedly connected to a dosing mechanism moves the aperture in the pot synchronically under the dosing pump.
The aforementioned machines suffer from serious drawbacks. These are usually caused by the structure of either the pumps or the containers. If a structure is used which has a plurality of containers that move simultaneously when pastes are being selected, severe mechanical problems arise since in the worst case, the moving masses may weigh several hundreds of kilograms. Consequently, the most advantageous solution to date has been one wherein the pump of the dosing equipment is a piston pump and the container structure is a fixed one.
Even if on account of fixed containers and dosing equipment as well as the simplicity of the dosing equipment it has thus been possible to make the operation of mixing machines functional in terms of these issues, the actual procedure of moving the paint pot while bringing it to the mixing machine, moving it therein underneath the dosing nozzles and while removing it from the mixing machine has been ignored completely. The known solutions are fixed structures strictly confined to a particular mixing machine structure, only and exclusively suitable for moving the paint pot when it is located underneath the dosing nozzles.